Lotus looks competitive - Allison

Lotus technical director James Allison is confident his team has produced a competitive car this year.

The E21 topped the timesheets on two of the first four days of testing in Jerez and Allison said the early signs were positive.

"Winter testing is exceedingly precious," he said. "We get just 12 days to prove out a very complex vehicle. Twelve days to push the car and the team to make sure that we are match fit by the time we get to Melbourne. Jerez offers the teams four days of guaranteed good weather on a challenging track that will stress the car from both a reliability and a performance point of view. We leave this first test in high spirits having learned that the E21 looks both competitive and reasonably reliable."

Allison said the plan now is to build up enough spares for the start of the season while working on an update ahead of the first race.

"The main thrust of activity between now and Melbourne is to build up the quantity of stock so that we can go racing. We are using just one chassis here in Jerez, but in a month's time we need to have four tubs ready to go. Gearboxes, suspension, bodywork and thousands of small parts all need to be made to allow us to commence the racing campaign.

"At the same time, we will be furiously building a crucial set of Melbourne performance upgrades to allow us to stay competitive. While the factory sweats to get this work completed, the travelling component of the team will plan and execute the remaining two tests. They will push the car as hard as they can to make sure we have amplified its strengths and minimised its weaknesses before we have to use it in anger."